Crowds fill downtown for revived holiday parade

Updated 4:37 pm, Thursday, November 28, 2013

Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle

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Kailee Frost, 11, left, and her cousin Rylee Frost, right, 9, adjust their warm weather gear as they wait for the start of the 64th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade along Walker Street Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Houston. less

Kailee Frost, 11, left, and her cousin Rylee Frost, right, 9, adjust their warm weather gear as they wait for the start of the 64th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade along Walker Street Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in ... more

Participants line up along Smith Street as they prepare for the Thanksgiving Parade.

Participants line up along Smith Street as they prepare for the Thanksgiving Parade.

Photo: Cody Duty, Houston Chronicle

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Left, Kailee Frost, 11, left, Terri Foreman, center and Rylee Frost, 9, right, wait for the parade to start along Walker Street. Foreman, the two cousins' grandma said that she brought the girls' daddies growing up and now she brings them. "We've been doing this for 30 years."

Left, Kailee Frost, 11, left, Terri Foreman, center and Rylee Frost, 9, right, wait for the parade to start along Walker Street. Foreman, the two cousins' grandma said that she brought the girls' daddies

Mark Dykstra embraces his son Samuel Dykstra, 10, who is feeling the cold temperatures while they wait to run the 5K 2013 TXU Energy Turkey Trot, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Houston.

Mark Dykstra embraces his son Samuel Dykstra, 10, who is feeling the cold temperatures while they wait to run the 5K 2013 TXU Energy Turkey Trot, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Houston.

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

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Ismael Guerrero, 21, of the U.S Army came prepared to endure the low temperatures and run the 2013 TXU Energy Turkey Trot, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Houston. Guerrero has been running the Turkey Trot for four years. less

Ismael Guerrero, 21, of the U.S Army came prepared to endure the low temperatures and run the 2013 TXU Energy Turkey Trot, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013, in Houston. Guerrero has been running the Turkey Trot for four ... more

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

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Families and competitors run the 5k 2013 TXU Energy Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day morning in Houston.

Families and competitors run the 5k 2013 TXU Energy Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day morning in Houston.

Customers wait outside Tuesday to buy pies from Flying Saucer Pie Co., which expects to sell thousands of the pies this week.

Customers wait outside Tuesday to buy pies from Flying Saucer Pie Co., which expects to sell thousands of the pies this week.

Photo: Cody Duty, Staff

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Micah Germany carries pies to his vehicle after purchasing them from Flying Saucer Pie Co., Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, in Houston. To prepare for the demand, the company started baking Monday night. They plan to sell thousands this week.

Micah Germany carries pies to his vehicle after purchasing them from Flying Saucer Pie Co., Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, in Houston. To prepare for the demand, the company started baking Monday night. They plan to

Jeff Qualls carries pies to his truck after purchasing them from Flying Saucer Pie Co., Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013, in Houston. The P.E. teacher purchased 90 pies on behalf of his principal at Burbank Elementary school, one for each teacher for Thanksgiving. He said that he hopes he gets to choose the pie he wants after hauling them back to the school.

It was a main reason Karen Shouse and Dennis Dunn stood watching, as the Earth came spinning around a corner along with Mayor Annise Parker, a horn section in front, and three recently-erected skyscrapers behind.

The couple also came to mark the change of seasons the parade represents.

"It's the first time you really want to hear a Christmas song," Dunn said.

The rotating Earth was among new major floats at this year's parade, briefly threatened when organizers this summer said they could no longer finance it. Organizers also had sold floats that had been part of past parades. The city took over the event, commissioning floats that would need to be built in three months.

An antique whistle and chug-chug sounded the entrance of another new float.

The locomotive was a favorite of Sarah Nelson and her 5-year-old nephew, Bryce. Nelson, here for her 11th year, watched for her son with his tuba in Texas Southern University's Ocean of Soul marching band.

"Each year they get more creative," she said not just about the band, but the dancers, other bands and the floats.

The marching band had the moves, dipping and swinging to a heavy groove that had the crowd screaming, and people stamping "Oh yeah."

"Hear that bass?" said Nelson, just as another major new float, the H-town cornucopia, extravagant with a live skateboard half-pipe, came into view.

The bass, it turned out, was the Hebrew hip hop Chanukah float, pulsing with rabbis and rabbi wannabes getting down to Matisyahu's "Jerusalem, if I forget you..."

In a very rare lunar calendar confluence, Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving this year.

"It's Santa!" Nelson shouted to Bryce as St. Nick appeared in a sleigh atop the truck. "Ain't that beautiful?" she asked, turning to Bryce with a quick: "You gotta be good."

As Raggedy Ann and Andy left the dispersing multitude, they stepped past one of the tamale stands staffed by 21-year old Gustavo Muñoz and his family, who staked out all four corners of Walker and Smith. There were still foil packages of a dozen each on the table, including Christmas venison, grandma's recipe from Salvatierra, Guanajuato. "Tamales, tamales, tamales!" his dad shouted.

His wife, Cindy Cruz, stared at him with forbearance, saying she's lived in Houston her whole life but it's their first parade. "I didn't want to just watch it, I wanted to be in it," she said. Now she recommends that to everyone.

"All we do is complain about the traffic, but it's good to be a part of it," she said. "They make you feel like a celebrity. You even get to eat breakfast with the mayor."